


everything stays

by jift



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Corrupted Steven Theory, Corrupted Steven Universe, Gen, WORM THEORY, maybeee angst, maybeeee ptsd steven??? im new to ao3
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2019-11-19
Packaged: 2020-11-28 10:55:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20965382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jift/pseuds/jift
Summary: Here we are in the future and it's wrong.--Steven has always known that the trauma he's been ignoring would come back to haunt him. He just never expected it to return with a vengeance.





	1. echoes of the past

“Garnet!” A voice, a bit too shrill, “Don’t run so fast! You might exacerbate his crack!”

_Crack?_ The sudden loud voice shakes Steven out from what feels like an awful night of sleep, and he awakens to himself being carried bridal style by Garnet. He can barely make out her expression through the inky blackness in the corner of his eyes, but he can feel his shirt getting wetter as she runs.

Suddenly, a jolt of pain reverberates through his body, causing him to give out a small yelp in response. It felt as if he was being pulled apart and put together within seconds.

Garnet notices the small cry and slows down, “We’re almost there, Steven. Just take a rest.” Her voice, warm and reassuring, makes Steven relax and his eyelids flutter shut once again.

\---

He awakes suddenly once again; this time being awoken by water in his face. He opens his eyes and sees Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst staring down at him, tears in their eyes. _Talk about déjà vu._ Particularly, they were staring at his naval, where his gem is. His head pounds a little as he rasps something out, “Guys…?”

The three gems’ heads jerk up at the sound of his voice and upon realising that he had woken up, they tearfully pull him into an embrace. Their relief crashes into Steven like a tsunami, and he silently leans deeper into their arms.

When they finally let go, is when Steven dares to ask anything. “What happened to me?” He asks, finding his voice a little too quiet.

The three gems exchange glances. “You don’t remember?” Pearl is the first to pipe up, “We found you, unconscious and …,” She winces, “…Cracked out in the strawberry fields.”

A faint scent of the ocean and rotten strawberries, a faint memory of being left out to _die_, ebbs and flows in his mind. His eyes shoot to his gem. His shirt is torn, leaving his stomach exposed. A faint line across one of the pink facets greets him and bile suddenly gathers in his throat. His fingers hover hesitantly over the gem.

“Di-Did Mom’s fountain not work?” Steven looks pointedly at the gems, voice cracking with worry.

As Garnet turns to face the fountain on their left, she recalls stoically, “Your Mother’s fountain did heal the crack that was in your gem.” She turns back to Steven, sunglasses dematerializing, “But a faint line remained.”

Steven glances down and absent-mindedly touches his gem, finding what Garnet said to be true; he couldn’t feel any cracks on the pink gemstone. If it weren’t for the faint line on his gem, one could barely tell it had been cracked before.

“Forget the line for now, dude. Do you feel _fine_?” Amethyst breaks him out of his reverie, “Any weird gem problems? Any glitchy feelings?”

His form has been fine for the past 10 minutes, so one other thing to check… Steven extends an arm in front of him and a shield – smooth and perfect – manifests with ease. 

They all heave a sigh of relief. “You really had us worried, Steven!” Pearl frantically sputters out, “When you left on that diplomatic mission and didn’t return the day after, we tried not to immediately assume the worst, but when the Diamonds told us you never even reached Pluto’s atmosphere, we had to find you.”

“-And then we found you, in that field, dazed and _cracked_,” Amethyst continues, with her own level of panic, “You couldn’t even heal yourself dude.” She blinks away tears.

“So, we brought you to the one place that could,” Garnet finishes the story, visor materialising over her glossy eyes.

Steven puts a hand to his head, trying to corroborate what the gems said. But his mind feels as if it had replaced with cotton and his memories of the event barely comes up in his mind. Something else pops up instead.

“The diplomatic mission!”, Steven yells out, “I-I still haven’t talked to those Agates on Pluto’s colony!” His eyebrows furrow as he tries to think of the fastest route to the planet, “Maybe I could get Lars to-“

Noticing his eye bags under his eyes, Garnet firmly interrupts, “_Maybe_ you should get some rest. We’ll let the Diamonds know you are out of commission.”

Steven knows deep down he cannot object, and the soreness from the strawberry field event comes back in waves to warn him as well. “I guess some rest would be nice,” Steven smiles, but his brows are still knitted under a mop of curly hair. 

As they head towards the warp, Steven glances at his gem once more, the line on its facet etching into his mind._ Nothing to worry about. _He steels himself and warps them effortlessly. 

—-

Upon returning to the house, the rest of the gems and Connie quickly rush him to bed and promptly start a health check up on him. The anxiousness and worry in the room made guilt bubble within Steven, a feeling he thought he had gotten rid of many moons ago. 

“Nothing seems to be out of order here,” Peridot mumbles as she circles Steven on her trash can lid, occasionally writing words on a clipboard, “I mean- nothing other than that faint line or scratch on your gem, which _is_ unprecedented.” She points a pen at Steven’s naval prompting the surrounding gems to glance at each other nervously. 

“Maybe it’s a scar!” Connie offers worriedly, “You know how when humans get injured, they get a scar sometimes?” 

Peridot retorts before Pearl can, “Yeah, but Gems don’t get scars. Ideally, we shouldn’t be getting our gems cracked in the first place, but when they get healed, they should return to their original, immaculate form.”

“Especially a Diamond…,” Pearl muses, a twinge of nostalgia in her voice. 

“Then, perhaps, it’s a human thing,” Eyes fall on Steven as his still raspy voice pipes up. The sudden attention makes him slightly nervous but he continues, “... So nothing to worry about?” He removes some of the nodes from his arms (much to Peridot’s annoyance) as he slowly tries to get off the bed, “Besides, I’ve gotta go to the Pluto colony as planned…”

Garnet steps silently in front of Steven, arms folded, “You’re not going until you tell us what happened.” Garnet’s voice is stern yet warm. 

Steven winces and he notices everyone looking to him with the same questioning eyes. He knows he’s not getting out of here until he says something, anything. “I really don’t remember,” He starts quietly, shaking his head, “The last thing I remember is warping and the next thing is being carried by Garnet.”

“Aw dude, you must have been roughed up really bad,” Amethyst grimaces, “They even ruined your organic shirt.” She states and points at Steven’s shredded black shirt. 

“Wait… I recognise those shreds.” Lapis suddenly speaks up, walks over and grasps the shreds in her hands, “This is the work of a Lapis Lazuli.”

Pearl clasps her hands over her mouth, “You don’t mean…”

“The Lapis Lazulis that were with Jasper.” Garnet finishes through gritted teeth. “I knew we should have finished them off when we had the chance.” She heads towards the door, “Gems, let’s go and look for them. We can’t let them stay out there unchecked.” With sounds of affirmation and determination, all the gems leave the room, leaving Connie and Steven behind.

Connie sees Steven still sitting on the side of the bed, eyes fixated on the door. She silently sits next to him on the bed, and wordlessly holds his hand. 

“So… The gems say your gem was really cracked,” Connie starts softly, “How are you feeling now?”

She feels his grip on her hand tighten a little and watches as he flops onto the bed, “Other than my head feeling like white noise? Fine, actually.” He sighs a little and lets go of Connie’s hand. 

Connie glances over at her best friend as he laid on the bed; his hair and shirt are disheveled and the faint line on his qu- diamond gem is hard to ignore. She notices his face tense up and then watches as he places balled up hands to his face. 

“Ugh! If Lapis is right, and those Lapis Lazulis really did catch me off-guard, it means I’m _still_ not prepared in helping the world!” He yells, voice muffled underneath his tense fists. 

“Don’t say that!” Connie retorts, hand slightly slamming onto the bed, “You’ve done so much these past few years, don’t let this one mistake bring you down.” She takes one of his fists and laces their fingers together. Her face forms something between a pout and angry determination. 

Steven can’t help his face from flushing red and he squeezes her hand in return, a small smile on his lips, “You always know the best words to say.” 

Connie’s heart swells, and she leans over to give him a peck on the cheek. With the kiss, the pair dissolve into flustered giggles, which then turn into warm laughter on Steven’s bed. 

Before they realise, Stevonnie is left laughing by themself on his bed. 

“Oh! We’re,” Stevonnie sits up on the bed, a smile still on their face, “I’m me.” 

They stand up and stretch their arms over their back, “It’s been a while! With Steven being so busy and all, we barely had any time to form Stevonnie for fun!” With that, they take a step forward - only to be plunged into what seems to be a blue and endless void. 

The mindscape. 

They glance around the area, taken aback, “I-I thought we got over this, why are we back here aga-” Their words are cut short as they lock eyes with a figure glowing bright pink. “Oh.” They breath out the word like the wind had been knocked out of them. The same view that they had seen that day, years ago, on homeworld; Pink Steven.

Unconsciously, Stevonnie makes their way towards the looming figure, seemingly mesmerized by him. Pink Steven does the same, eyes unfeeling as he marches towards the fusion. The silence pounds in their ears with every step they take. 

When they meet, Stevonnie raises a hand, and Pink Steven does the same. They are much taller than what Steven was years ago, and the pink entity has to lift his hand above his head to reach theirs. Before both of their fingers make contact, Steven and Connie both fall apart onto the wooden floor in Steven’s house. 

“Steven…” Connie’s voice is barely a whisper, “I thought we agreed you were gonna tell the gems.” 

Steven is sitting, back facing her, arms around his legs as he shrugs, “I guess I forgot?”

“You’re telling me, Steven, who remembers everyone’s favourite pizza topping, forgot to tell the gems this important detail?” Connie presses, doubt spilling out of her voice. 

Steven tightens his grip on his jeans for a few minutes before swirling around and facing Connie, tears in his eyes, “I can’t tell them! We’ve made so much progress with White and the other diamonds…”

His voice cracks as he continues, “I-If I tell them what White Diamond did to me back then, we might lose all of it!” He swings an arm out, seeming to gesture at the house and Little Homeworld in the distance. 

“But Steven,” Connie scoots closer to him, her hands balled into fists on the wooden floor, “This - bottling up what you feel - it isn’t healthy.” 

Steven lingers on her last statement, and he considers pushing it into the recesses of his mind. He doesn’t do it this time. “It isn’t,” He admits, remembering their lessons with Garnet, “I’ll tell the gems as soon as this Lapis situation blows over. I don’t want this to add to their worries.”

“_Promise_ me you’ll tell them,” Connie’s knuckles whiten as she tightens them further.

This time, Steven is the one who takes her hands and looks into her eyes, “_Promise_.” With that, Connie pulls him into a hug, in which he reciprocates in relief. As they embrace, Steven’s heart stops for a second as his eyes follow a white butterfly fluttering across the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi!! this is my first fic in years and my first fic for su!! and my first time posting on ao3!! *throws confetti*  
i really love the corrupted steven theory by https://novantinuum.tumblr.com/post/188153524489/on-the-corruptedsteven-theory that i kinda ended,, up writing fic for it..? im sorry if there are any grammatical/word errors bc i didnt uhh have any one else to read it
> 
> also!! uhh im sorry if the characters r ooc its really been a while
> 
> i also honestly wrote chapter names, title name and summary on the fly at 12 am so forgive me if they sound weird  
anywho, this chapter ended up longer than i expected n i hope thts okay? i kinda want to build it up :3c
> 
> thanks for taking the time to read this lil guy!!


	2. right as you left it

The gentle whir of a fan and the vague sound of a cliched soap opera fills the room. At his desk, Steven stares at the mess that is his gem email, and tries to wade through the dozens - if not hundreds of requests on his telecommunicator. He glances blearily at the cookie cat clock on his right, grimacing as he realises it’s 3 a.m already. _This is the 4th time this week. _

Since his accident a week ago, the gems have been preoccupied with looking for the Lazulis, spending more time on search missions. “It’s for your own safety, do try to rest in the meantime,” They said as they also placed Steven on house arrest, forbidding him from going on political missions. As much as he understands the concern, he can’t help the backload from crawling on his back. 

_It’s not like I can get much rest either. _He muses and takes a sip from his coffee. It wasn’t like he could sleep anyways, especially when remnants of a pink self appear when he closes his eyes.

He continues scrolling through the emails; most of which consist of asking for assistance with stabilising existing colonies, some from gems who needed help understanding their new roles and a few from the diamonds asking for him to visit soon. A small part of him regrets teaching them English and giving them his email. 

A certain email catches his attention.

A request - written in a mix of Gem and broken English - asking him to survey the improving biodiversity of a planet adjacent to Homeworld. 

_And a simple request at that. _He considers and weighs his options. 

He glances back at the galaxy warp encased in hard ice, purposefully ignoring the one white butterfly perching on it. Sapphire wanted to make sure there was no future where he used the warp to sneak off, and right she was in making that choice. 

As Steven stares absent-mindedly at the frigid block and its winged companion, another option comes to his mind. 

——

**Steven (8:24 a.m): I’ve got a favour to ask. Are you free right now? **

**Lars (8:30 a.m): Sure, dude. I’m at the Big Donut if you wanna swing by. **

**Steven (8:31 a.m): I’ll see you in 5? **

Quickly grabbing a nearby pink hoodie and putting it on, Steven made his way towards the Big Donut. On his way there, he glances around, making sure no one notices him sneaking out of the house. 

He really didn’t want to be out and about so early in the morning (considering that he slept a grand total of 2 hours last night), but there was no other perfect time where the gems happened to be out of the house. 

(And he desperately needed to clear his head of his growing task list.)

“Lars!” He calls out to the pink teenager, sitting outside the shop. Lars promptly turns around, smile on his face, about to return the greeting when he notices Steven’s own face. 

“Dude,” He blanched into a pale pink, “Did you get _any_ sleep last night? Your eyebags look as dark as Snowflake’s gem.” 

Steven blinks. He did _feel_ tired, but he didn’t think about the fact that it would be _obvious_. “I haven’t been sleeping too well,” He admits sheepishly, a hand scratching his head, “But nevermind that, I’m feeling fine! I wanted to ask you about borrowing your ship. Thought it would be nicer if I asked you in person.” He mentally facepalms himself for rambling. 

There’s a hint of doubt behind Lars’ expression, but his expression softens nonetheless, “Well, I would let you borrow it but we’re having it for repairs after yesterday’s mission.”

“Yesterday?” Steven echoes. 

“Oh yeah, we went to the Jungle Moon Stevonnie crashed on and surveyed the place for lost gems and stuff,” Lars says, eyes sparkling a bit, “But as we were leaving this weird tentacle alien grabbed our ship and wrecked it quite a bit.” 

Flashing back to when he was Stevonnie on the same moon, Steven nods knowingly to his story. 

“So, yea, then I took a blade from Rhodonite, climbed out of the ship and sliced the tentacle off of it, allowing us to go free. The guy_ nearly_ got me, but I got it instead!” He finishes triumphantly, then remembers, “So that’s why the Sun Incinerator is in the repair shop right now. Turbo is kinda busted.” 

Steven stares uneasily at Lars, unnerved by the concept of him dying… _again?_ He died before. Right. He observes pink the scar running up the right of Lars’ face and before he knows it - he’s looking at a bright red wound and he’s holding Lars in his hands again. 

Steven flinches. 

With all of the commotion and drama since that… _incident_, Steven realises he hasn’t had the time to digest what happened that day. Suddenly, all the adrenaline from that moment comes rushing back to him, pounding in his ears. 

“I-I’m sorry,” Steven says in a shaky voice, hands trembling in front of him. He feels his vision blurring in and out as he tries to refocus himself in the present. 

Lars quickly notes the younger boy’s quickening breath, and tries to salvage the situation, “Steven… are you okay? Do you want to head back to get some rest?” 

Lars’ voice (_he’s alive, he’s alive_) breaks him out of his reverie and brings him back to the present. The adrenaline still beating in his veins, he slowly looks up from his hands to make eye contact with the pink teen,“N-never bette-,” 

He freezes, blood running cold. 

Perching on Lars’ body are dozens of white butterflies, their wings occasionally fluttering, revealing patches of pink skin under them. 

He runs. 

The butterflies follow. 

Through the blood pumping in his ears, he can barely make out Lars yelling his name. But at the moment he didn’t care, he just needed to get away from _this_. He warily glances back to ensure Lars isn’t following him, only to realise in horror that the butterflies are. 

His sandals slip on sand on the beach and the butterflies catch up. 

They land on him; on his hair, on his hoodie and on his face. Their wings fluttering rapidly and their white blinding his eyes. Their thoraxes feel so, so hot and they make Steven’s breath quicken as he struggles to will them away. 

_This isn’t real, they aren’t real. _Steven repeats in his mind as his eyes try to focus past the numerous wings beating in front of it. Seemingly aware, the white entities cover his eyesight and he feels a fire burn in his chest. Just before he loses consciousness, he hears someone call his name. 

—-

“What do you mean he passed out?!”

“We were just talking when he freaked out and started running away! Then he tripped and fainted on the beach!"

The commotion wakes Steven up and he groggily looks around his surroundings. He’s back in his bed and the gems, Connie and Lars surround it, arguing with knitted brows on their faces.

His head is way too heavy for him to begin to care about the hundreds of butterflies in his room.

“Guys…,” He croaks out, prompting everyone to immediately stop their conversation and turn to face him. Through his slightly blurred vision, he can see tears in the eyes of most of them. 

“Steven!” Connie wrings her hands slightly, “Lars said you freaked and ran from him, are you alright?” 

“Did the Lapis attack you on your way to the Big Donut?!” Amethyst pipes up before Steven can process Connie’s question. Even then, Steven doesn’t think he can answer Connie’s question. His head feels as if someone was playing white noise at full volume. 

“Amethyst!” Pearl chides softly at her side, “Don’t confuse Steven with more questions! He clearly isn’t feeling well…” She winces a little as she looks at his pale and sweaty face, “He might even have a fever or a concussion.” With that, she squats a little and stretches a hand over to Steven’s forehead. 

Steven lets her do so, after all, she’s always been there to help with his health. But just before her hand makes contact, he blinks. 

And suddenly, it’s Pearl, bleached, with that sick, _sick_ smile on her face. Spear in hand, pointing and heading towards him. 

In a flash of pink, a shield materialises and slaps Pearl’s hand away, being thrown into the adjacent wall after. The tension in the room is palpable as all eyes lock onto the shield, which quickly dematerialises. 

All of them turn to Steven, who is stuck in a kneeling position on his bed, fearful eyes still focused on Pearl’s hand. 

“Steven,” It’s Garnet this time, her voice laced with slight worry, “It’s us, you have nothing to be afraid of.” Upon hearing her voice, he turns to her, only to visibly flinch, promptly backing towards the headboard of his bed. 

Everyone in the room, except Steven, glances nervously at each other. “I think he’s seeing something that isn’t real…,” Peridot offers cautiously, pen scratching her head, “Something you humans have a name for...” 

“Hallucinations?” Connie completes, letting out a breath of air she didn’t know she was holding. _Oh Steven, what are you seeing? _She clutches her shirt as Steven’s eyes fixate onto Peridot, causing his breath to hitch. 

_His room is practically painted white at this moment, with thousands of white butterflies on every single surface they can perch on. Their wings flap with each staggering breath he takes. _

_Steven watches as Peridot’s mouth moves, she’s talking about humans? Doesn’t matter. He can’t help but fixate his eyes on the gem destabiliser in her hands and can’t stop the memory of Garnet fracturing down the middle from resurfacing. _

_A voice from the side catches his attention and he sees Lapis and Bismuth talking to each other. Lapis turns to him, eyes glassy and empty, and suddenly he feels as if his lungs were filled with water again. As his lungs burn in his ribcage, he struggles to form a shield against Bismuth, whose eyes are filled with fiery rage and calloused hands hold the Breaking Point, slowly walking towards him. _

_He glances towards the gems - pale with that **sick** smile-_

_And he eyes Peridot and her destabiliser _

_And Lapis with her soulless eyes_

_and , a**n d , **_

“That’s enough!” Steven brings his hands to his pounding head, forming an opaque bubble around him in the process. The formation of his pink sphere sends out a shockwave which poofs the gems and knocks Lars and Connie down to the floor. 

As she struggles to get back up on her feet, Connie notices the bubble increasing rapidly in size. To which, she yells, “Lars, I think we sho-” Before she can finish her sentence, the opaque sphere expands exponentially, shoving the two and the gems against a wall before glitchily dissipating. Her head hits the wooden wall just right and she can already start seeing inky blackness swarming her eyes. Just before succumbing to the black spots in her eyesight, she notices that Steven’s pupils glint pink against his dark sclera.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi!! school knocked me unconscious for a week with report writing but now im finally back! and back to posting at 12 am again! 
> 
> this chap is a little shorter than chap 1 and i hope thats ok! this is kinda my own take on how the AU would go and i get that might not be for everyone but i had fun writing it :3c
> 
> thanks for taking the time to read this!


	3. lying upside down

And finally,  _ finally _ , all is quiet - the room, his thoughts, the incessant pounding in his head. (It’s reduced to a absent-minded hum at the back of his mind, but it’s still a marked improvement.) Acting on instinct, Steven tries to push himself up into a sitting position.  _ Wait. _ He pauses, his brain finally recognising the soft linen against his face.  _ Why am I lying face down? _

An unwanted memory floods through, pulsing and throbbing through his head. His hands grip the covers of his bed in response. 

_ Widened eyes and the smell of rock dust.  _

Steven freezes at the implication, and his blood runs colder. The calm silence of the room from earlier suddenly turns transforms into a chilling stillness, threatening to swallow him whole. He is so,  _ so _ tempted to just lay there, in the nook of his comforting bed and never get up. And  _ yet _ , something else inside him gnaws at him, urging him to look up.

The dread rises in the form of bile in his throat, and it takes all of his willpower to push through it, just to take a tiny glimpse around his room. Steven slowly rises up from the duvet, and cautiously opens his eyes. In that moment, he wishes he never looked up. 

At the two corners of the bedroom lay Connie and Lars, both seemingly unconscious. Steven’s heart drops like a stone at the thought of either of them being severely hurt, and without a second thought, gets closer to them. Whilst getting off his bed, a purple glitter catches his attention. 

And it’s now that he notices. 

The sun’s beams always perfectly hits his room around this time of day, and he always liked the warmth of it on his skin. Comforting like a hug, and warm as a crackling campfire. But now? The beams of light bounce off the multicoloured gems on the floor, spreading equally multicoloured spots around his room. 

The vividly coloured dots dance in front of his eyes, their presence taunting him with their implication. As he glances between the unconscious duo and the numerous gemstones on the floor, his brain rapidly cycles through every scenario that could have caused this.  _ A gem attack? Another alien species? Who _ ** _ did_ ** _ this? _

Steven only realises he has been slowly backing off when he trips backwards, landing clumsily on the wooden floorboards. It is now that he registers the elephant in the room; he’s unharmed and definitely not passed out. He brings his now shaking hands into view, his mind now screaming a singular thought at him.

_ Did I do this? _

Another memory ricochets through his head; this one causing hot tears to prick his eyes and adrenaline to return like an unwelcome guest. 

_ The sound of a resounding snap. A dark pink swiftly surrounding him and a blood-curdling scream filling his ears.  _

The gentle hum in his head crackles back to life, mutating back into the too familiar and unwelcome pounding once again. He collapses onto the floorboards with a pained yell, hands holding his temples. It almost feels like he was back at  _ that _ moment, with white hands too tight and white light too blinding.

_I.. did this. _The realisation crashes into him like a wall of bricks. He stares into the wood of the floor, sweaty hands clutching at his curls. _I <strike>hurt</strike> did this to them. _

From the corner, Steven hears a groan, breaking him out of his guilt-steeped reverie. He shakily glances over, and sees Lars stir a little. The minute movement is enough to send a frantic electricity through Steven, prompting him to hastily clamber towards and down the stairs without another thought. At the bottom, where Steven presumes he is out of sight, he tries to steady himself. 

However, through shaky breaths, he catches a glimpse of himself in the window’s reflection. His heart stops in his chest, and the world seems to pause along with it. 

It’s him in the mirror. Of course it is. But, he just doesn’t seem to recall having dark pools of black for eyes or dark pink splotches on his skin. Steven stumbles backwards, taken aback by the foreign appearance in the reflection. His thoughts are now an uncoordinated orchestra - each instrument clumsily playing over each other.  _ What  _ ** _is_ ** _ this?! Is this a new gem thing?  _ Against the panic rising in him, he still manages a deadpan expression.  _ Please don’t let this be a  _ ** _Diamond_ ** _ thin- _

Steven doesn’t get a chance to finish his train of thought before a jolt of pain erupts from his navel, causing him to fall to his knees. As pain blossoms throughout his body, he finds his claws sinking into the wood, bringing up gnarled wooden curls. 

_ Wait.  _

_ Claws?!  _ His breath quickens as he examines his hands. Instead of his usual fingers, dark pink claws greet him, and their sickening shade of pink spreads further down, rapidly reaching his elbow in a matter of seconds. Steven lets out a yelp as the various pink splotches thicken into a leather-like texture, further spreading and expanding. 

_ Th- this is-  _ His wide eyes bore into his rapidly changing appendages, recognising them for the ailment they are. Yet, somehow, something inside him, refused to even let him  _ think _ the word. Through the increasingly noisy clamour in his head, Steven weighs his options. It’s either the unconscious gems and people upstairs, or… 

His eyes rest on the painting above.

Beads of sweat trickles down the sides of his temples as Steven struggles across the room, trying to get to the warp pad in the centre. Through his mutating body and throbbing headache, it takes everything out of him to even crawl - every movement forwards sends another jolt of discomfort through him. And with each jolt, the goal in his mind becomes more and more foreign. 

_ Get yourself together, Universe!  _

_ I need to - I gotta - I have to - I  _ ** _need_ ** _ to - I  _ ** _have_ ** _ to - to do  _ ** _wHat_ ** _ aGain _ _ ? Get to the warp pad!  _ _ FoR? _ _ I… d-don’t know.  _ _ ThIS iS poINTLESS. _ _ I know.  _ _ YoU kNow WhaT  _ ** _THIS _ ** _ iS. _ _ I know.  _ _ tHe foUntaIN’s goNNA do liTTLE to HeLP. _ _ I **know.** _

_ … _

_ Aren’t you tired? _

** _I _ _aM._ **

He rears his head and lets out a resounding roar, letting his crystalline horns catch the sunbeams just right, spreading pink rays of light throughout the house. The quadrupedal diamond, with jet black sclera and bright pink pupils, scans his surroundings, seemingly searching for something or someone. 

He perks up and tilts his head. <strike>Music</strike> Sounds come from outside. 

With another roar, he barrels through the screen door, and runs in the direction of the town. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi!! sorry this chapter is so short, it was supposed to have more plot, but the pacing feels weird if i continued after the ending so i decided to cut off the remaining aspect of the chap
> 
> also im posting this at 12am again *peace sign*
> 
> thanks for reading this fic!! and for the all the nice comments!! (iloveyall<3)


	4. you'll see how it's faded

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mystery guest joins Sadie Killer and the Suspects' concert.

“Come on… Pick up…,” Greg paces back and forth in front of Fish Stew Pizza, the ringing from an unanswered call filling his ears. A nearby crash followed by a couple of screams prompts him to peak around the shop’s corner. 

The creature  _ (gem?) _ \- a magenta quadrupedal, with a pair of pale pink crystalline horns extruding out of its hairless head - was currently chasing a few humans up and down the roads, a few gems chasing right behind.  _ Just like a conga line _ . Greg muses, before quickly dismissing the thought.  _ Focus, Universe! _ He then swiftly assesses the damage in the area - toppled chairs, ripped curtains and chewed wires. 

It had all happened so fast. 

\---

A week ago, Kofi had requested that Sadie Killers and the Suspects play at the grand reopening of Fish Stew Pizza. With the influx of gems into the town, and an increase in gems adopting human habits (who knew they loved fish pizza so much?) - the restaurant was becoming much too crowded for anyone to comfortably dine in. The clear course of action was to upgrade the shop to have two floors, thus increasing its seating capacity. 

Sadie and the rest were delighted to hear that it would be a simple gig in their hometown, especially since they had just finished a tour outside of Beach City not long ago. It would have been a breather for them; a small chance to relax. 

But then again, when did Beach City ever rest? 

Half an hour ago, a guttural roar in the distance had disturbed the third song in their discography. Before anyone could have reacted, a quadrupedal horned creature had appeared on stage in a flash of magenta, its pink pupils glinting. 

Just the mere sight of it on stage was enough to cause chaos. The humans in the crowd started screaming and scrambling all over the place, toppling over chairs and each other in the process. The gems, on the other hand, instinctively drew their weapons, and tried to apprehend the quadrupedal from causing damage to the area. 

Greg had been behind the stage at the time, working on the sound and light systems. When the screams started, he had been less startled than one should have. After all, the past few years in Beach City had already prepared him enough for perilous situations in one lifetime. He dashed to the other side of the stage, only to halt upon seeing the horned back of the creature. 

The magenta being was currently facing 3 Little Homeworld quartzes, and it easily towered over the three of them. 

Fear had freezed Greg’s veins solid.  _ What  _ _ is _ _ that?!  _

Before Greg could muster another thought (or move another muscle), the creature had swerved its body, tail having missed Greg by a hair as it slammed into the three gems. Their weapons had clanged to the ground, dissipating into nothing. Oddly enough, that was the only damage done - the 3 quartzes had also fallen as well, but their forms didn’t dissipate from the tail’s blow. 

With them groaning on the ground, the creature turned on its heel and dashed down the boardwalk, only to be stopped by a few more gems and their brandished weapons. It swiveled only to face two more gems - it was surrounded. The quartz of the pair had summoned her axe, and quickly raised it over her head in the hopes of getting a good swing in. 

The next moment felt like slow motion to Greg. 

As the quartz’s axe slowly descended, the creature - with its eyes black as the night, and pupils an eerie luminescent pink - flinched…? There was no mistaking the minute defensive reaction; its eyes had squeezed shut and its head had ducked to the side.

_ It’s as if _ … Greg had stared wide-eyed at the scene unfolding, gears turning in his head, ... _ it’s scared.  _

The initial reaction disappeared as quickly as it showed. 

Swiftly, it then bent down, letting the quartz’s axe crash into the wooden planks of the boardwalk, the axe dissipating soon after. Expecting a counterattack, the gems had raised their weapons to protect themselves, only to realise that the creature stayed as it was. Its lack of attack had left the remaining gems dumbfounded and they had lowered their weapons in confusion. 

Seemingly taking advantage of the situation, it proceeded to spin and used its tail to knock the gems surrounding it to the ground. With a second chance at freedom, it had sprinted away from the gems, in the direction of the town centre. 

There had been a pair of unfortunate tourists from Ocean Town in its path; they had thought the creature was part of the show and were still taking pictures of it. Only when it started dashing towards them, did they realise it was very much real. The duo had discarded their cameras and bolted, which seemingly made it gain intent in chasing them. 

The gems had recovered quickly from their fall and soon started pursuing the creature. 

With the commotion shifting to the next street, Greg had finally felt like he could move again. As much as he had wanted to help the gems in their chase, he knew from experience it would be better to stay out of their way. After all, the gems would be able to handle it most of the time.

The…  _ Crystal _ gems…

It had struck him like lightning. Greg glanced around the area, searching for a specific squad of gems, only to be met with panicked humans and various Little Homeworld gems. He stuck his hand in his pocket, fingers enveloping the reassuring metal, and fished out his phone. 

The contact picture - a photo of him and Steven beaming - had made him break into a weary smile, but he had shook his head and quickly pressed the green phone symbol next to it. 

\---

After what was the 3rd attempt at calling Steven, Greg feels an uneasy feeling settle in his stomach. The gems, or at least Pearl or Garnet, would quickly spring into the fight the second a commotion occurred. The combination of the three gems not being here and his son not picking up the phone gave Greg the hint that something was deeply wrong. Clutching his ringing phone tighter to his ear, his eyes instinctively wander to the beach house in the far distance. He swallows down some anxiety, and mentally chides himself to have more faith in his son. 

A crash behind him, and he swivels around quick. The magenta creature had climbed up to the roof of the fry shop, knocking over the sign in the meantime. The other homeworld gems are trying to get to it, but are clearly inexperienced in dealing with such an animal-like creature, Greg notes. Still, he’s glad that the other gems have it distracted, because he absolutely did not want to be chased by a creature that size. After all, it was about as big as the sign that it had just pushed down to the boardwalk. 

_ Has it always been that large? _

“Hi! Steven here!” Greg perks up at the familiar voice in his ear, anxious to explain the current situation. “I’m sorry I’m not here to pick up your call right now, but leave a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can! Thanks!” And with that, he deflates, ending the call. 

Glancing between the beach house and the creature upon the fry shop, Greg makes his choice. 

\---

Greg’s hand is on the door handle when he notes the frayed hole in the screen door. The bile rises in his throat with the possibilities that flood his mind, but he steels himself and enters the house. 

The pregnant, eerie silence of the house hits him head first, further emphasizing how wrong everything is. To his surprise, aside from the damage done to the door, the living room itself looks impeccable. In fact, if it weren’t for the uncomfortable silence and damaged screen door, he would have assumed everything was fine. 

“Steven?” Greg calls out, only to get silence in return. He cups his hands and further calls for the gems, deeply hoping they were just in their rooms, and that he just needed to be louder for them. 

Nothing. 

Greg hums a worried sound and his gaze shifts to the stairs to Steven’s bedroom. He had always emphasized on respect for each other’s boundaries, and that he would always give Steven the space he required. That especially meant that he wasn’t too keen on snooping around his son’s room for clues. 

_ “Aww Dad, you’re free to come in any time you want!” Steven said through a wide smile.  _

_ Greg put a hand to his neck, heart warmed by his son’s openness, “Well, it’s your bedroom still, and if anything happens, I’ll knock first.”  _

_ “Dad, my room doesn’t even have a door,” Steven struck him a deadpan look. He sighed, but a small grin creeped onto his face, “I don’t want you to feel like a stranger in your son’s house. _

_ Come up anytime.”  _

With flashback Steven’s permission still in his mind, Greg heads up the stairs. 

—-

“Connie! Lars!”

Connie and Lars are laying at the two corners of the room, eyes shut and bodies limp. Greg rushes over to Connie first, and fearing the worst, quickly places two fingers to her wrist. Feeling the reassuring beats thrum against his fingers, he lets out a sigh of relief. He does the same for Lars and he thanks the stars that the both of them are just unconscious. 

The awful weight lifted off his chest; Greg finally has the mental capacity to survey the room, and goodness, it is a  _ sight _ to unpack. 

Several of Steven’s belongings - including his favourite pink jacket - are strewn across the wooden floor. Alongside them, are seven gemstones of varying colours- 

Wait. 

Greg stares at the inert gemstones lying on the floor, and he suddenly understands why nobody was there to help with the monster at the boardwalk. He puts his hands to his head as he paces around the room, considering his options. 

As if on cue, a white glow illuminates the room, and Greg swivels around to face its source. The purple gemstone levitates to the middle of the room, going through several white silhouettes before settling on one that Greg is familiar with. The white figure slowly floats back down, revealing Amethyst in her denim shorts and her black top, which now has a star-shaped hole around her gem. 

“Amethyst!” Greg is about to dash over to help her out, when the memory of the rejuvenator flashes in his mind, “You remember who you are, right?” 

Amethyst fixes him a puzzled look, “Uhh, why wouldn’t I? Besides, what happened earl- Holy smokes!” She jumps back a few steps when she realises the others’ gemstones lying on the ground; inert and unmoving. 

“Yeah.” Greg scratches the back of his neck, looking to the same view as Amethyst. “Look, I came up to check if you guys were around, and I found you guys like  _ this _ . There’s this  _ thing  _ down on the boardwalk, and it crashed the concert and now it’s chasing humans!”

“Thing?” A pause. “Did it look like a monster of sorts?” Greg nods. 

“It had horns, four legs and it was huge! The last I saw it, it was the size of the fry sign! I wanted to find you guys because the other gems didn’t seem too… experienced in handling it.”

Amethyst grimaces, “It  _ could _ be a corrupted gem... and if it is…” She eyes the various motionless gemstones on the floor, “I’m not sure if I can handle it on my own.” Greg sees her eyes light up as she focuses on the white gem on the floor, she then jumps forwards and swoops the gem into her hand.

“Hope you don’t mind my moves, P.” With that said and Pearl in her hand, she proceeds to dance - a quick and energetic one until they start glowing white, much to Greg’s surprise. Their white form grows larger and two more arms emerge from it. When it dissipates, a tall pale blue gem is left behind, eyes wide-eyed as if in surprise. Greg opens his mouth to ask the gem something, but can barely say a word as they quickly unfuse into Pearl and Amethyst, both holding hands. 

“Amethyst!” Pearl’s voice is shrill as her eyes dart all over the room, “Where’s the danger?! Wh-what is going on here?!” Her voice becomes more high-pitched when she notices the other gemstones on the floor. 

“I’m as lost as you, P. But I do know that there is a corrupted gem in town, right now!” 

Forcing herself to tear her gaze away from the gemstones, Pearl gasps, “How do you know?” 

“Well, Greg here was at the concert when it attacked, and from his description,” Amethyst gestures to Greg, who gives Pearl a sheepish nod of confirmation, “It sure  _ sounds _ like one.” 

“If that’s true, we have no time to waste. We can’t wait for the others to reform, and I’m not exactly  _ sure _ if fusing with them in their current state will even work.” Pearl says, seemingly ticking off a mental checklist, “Where was the last place you saw it?” 

“It had just pushed a sign off the fry shop.”

“Fry shop it is. Amethyst, let’s go.” 

Amethyst bounces down the steps, anxious to get to the fight. Pearl follows after her, about to chide her rambunctious action when someone grabs her wrist, causing her remarks to die in her throat. She turns back in surprise to see Greg - his eyes full of  _ worry _ \- holding onto her. 

“Pearl, if you happen to see Steven, please give me a text.” His voice is pleading, and it shakes just a little on his name. 

It is only now does Pearl realise. Connie, Lars and the familiar gemstones are accounted for, but Steven is  _ nowhere _ to be seen. With Greg already being so frazzled in front of her, she shoves down her own bubbling worry, and gives him the best smile she can muster, “I promise.” Seemingly placated by her words, Greg releases his hold. 

Pearl sprints down the stairs, and catches up with Amethyst outside.

\---

“It’s just like you and Greg said,” Pearl murmurs out, hand at her chin, “It’s a corrupted gem.” There was no mistaking the animalistic behaviour that they have been fighting all these years, and there it was again, right in front of them in all its magenta glory. 

“I thought P-dot said we got all of them?!” Amethyst says, a tinge of exasperation in her voice as her whips materialise in her hand. 

Pearl does the same with her spear, twirling it absent-mindedly as she observes the creature, “As confident as Peridot was, no technology has a 100% success rate; she must be the 0.01% it left out.” 

“Right,” Amethyst deadpans, clearly not entertained by the jargon, “That basically means we still gotta poof her and bring her to the fountain?” 

“Of course.” Pearl remarks with an air of authority, watching as the corrupted gem knocks a quartz to the sand dunes, “Amethyst, if you will.” 

Amethyst lets a grin sneak onto her face as she spin dashes towards the corrupted gem, spinning circles around it. Easiest trick in the book; distracting the corrupted gem and wrapping whips around its two legs in the meantime. 

Before the magenta quadrupedal could even react to Amethyst’s sudden appearance, it found black whips wrapped tightly around its two front legs. Its eyes follows the whips to see the purple gem standing behind it, a smug smile on her face. 

With a strong tug and eyes shut, Amethyst pulls the gem onto its back in one swift motion. The impact from the hefty quadrupedal onto the beach causes clouds of sand to rise. 

“Pearl! Now!” 

Pearl jumps through the sand clouds, spear ready to pierce through the hard light body. As the sand settles, something stops her in her tracks and her spear drops to the sand. Minutes pass, and all Pearl can do is stare, mouth agape at the gem. 

“Pearl? Anytime now?! Pearl?!” Amethyst unscrews her eyes, and is almost prepared to yell at Pearl in exasperation. However, her complaint is caught in her throat when she sees the utter  _ horror _ in the white gem’s eyes. 

Tracking her line of sight, Amethyst finds herself staring at the navel of the corrupted gem. 

A pink gem with a scar. 

With the revelation, Amethyst’s whips dissipates, setting the corrupted gem free. As a million thoughts rush through both gems’ heads, they both freeze in place even as the gem gets back on its fours. 

The pair can only look on as the corrupted gem lets out a roar, a large pink circle emerging from his mouth and stopping over the ocean. He stiffens, and Pearl swears that its a hint of hesitation. The minute expression is gone in a flash as he swiftly dashes across the water and leaps into the portal. Once he is fully through it, the circle shrinks until it no longer exists. 

The waves crash noisily onto the sand, seemingly making up for the silence that remained. Pearl and Amethyst both stare numbly into the skyline, still rooted in their original positions on the beach. 

After what feels like an eternity of crashing waves, Amethyst slumps down onto the sand, staring into the sky. Her action breaks Pearl out of her own numb reverie, and Pearl realises she had promised Greg something. 

In a flash of light, she retrieves her phone from her gem and types.

**Pearl (2:14 p.m.): We found Steven. **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi!! im so so sorry that its been a while since i updated... this chapter was a hard one for me to write and i had a lotta school stuff the past few weeks _(:3」∠)_
> 
> also im pooped so this chapter notes will be short, thanks for taking the time to read this fic!! <3
> 
> (also: that steven universe future promo aAAAA)


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